6,437 Ekiti youths benefit from Fayemi’s employment scheme

At least 6,437 youths in Ekiti State have benefitted from the Employment Scheme of the Governor Kayode Fayemi administration.

This came as the governor restated the commitment of his administration to fighting poverty and giving economic empowerment to the people.

This, Fayemi said, necessitated the implementation of policies designed at raising the standard of living of Ekiti people and addressing the poverty rate.

The governor spoke at the flag-off of the engagement of the third batch of the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO)/Public Workfare (PWF) Scheme in Ifaki Ekiti.

Fayemi, who spoke through his deputy, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, described the World Bank-assisted scheme as laudable and a measure to combat poverty “which does not respect partisan politics.”

The Special Assistant (Media) to the deputy governor, Odunayo Ogunmola, explained in a statement issued on Sunday that 6,437 beneficiaries were participating in the programme holding on the Ifaki Campus of the Ekiti State University (EKSU).

Fayemi said his administration had zero tolerance for poverty hence its desire to always engage the people of the state in meaningful activities which would keep the youth out of redundancy and restiveness.

He promised that his administration would soon recommence the payment of stipends to the indigent aged and physically-challenged people with the beneficiaries to be drawn from the Single Register for the Poor and Vulnerable Households.

The Single Register, according to the governor, contains the list of all identified households living below globally accepted poverty line and from where the beneficiaries of YESSO/PWF were drawn.

Fayemi, who advised the beneficiaries to judiciously utilise the stipends to be paid them and make themselves reliant, also commended the World Bank for the project and other interventions in the state.

Speaking earlier, the Director-General (DG), the Bureau of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Mr. Lanre Ogunjobi, disclosed that government would be committing N50 million monthly to the payment of stipends to beneficiaries.

Ogunjobi, who said the gesture was aimed at checkmating poverty at the grassroots, also hailed the Fayemi administration for paying its counterpart funds to the World Bank, despite the financial challenges facing the state.

He pointed out that the programme, which started in 2013 during Fayemi’s first tenure, had helped reduce unemployment and boosted economy at the grassroots.

The Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Mr. Sesan Alabi, said the welfare of the poor was a priority to the Fayemi administration.

Alabi added that the social intervention programmes started by the governor during his first tenure were now being replicated at the federal level to give empowerment to the poor.